


Local Grandparents In An Adoption Frenzy

by BoliTheSenate



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Idk i'm bad at tagging, Inspired By Tumblr, Short Story, ambiguous time and location, feed your children, is this fluff?, mandalorians calling dibs on random children, no beta we die like men, or they will be taken
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:13:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26511205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoliTheSenate/pseuds/BoliTheSenate
Summary: Dith bristled, as did old Vhriin, who sat on the table just next to them. The eyes of the old, battle marked Twi’lek flitted over to the jetiise for a second and then back to his food, but from his stiffened posture Dith knew his attention was now on them. Not that she could fault him, those children seemed… skittish, in a way that rubbed her the wrong way. Tray in hand she hovered closer, wiping off some empty tables on the side. She watched as the adult jetii, seemingly a female Cerean, sharply put down the pad with the menu on it.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 74





	Local Grandparents In An Adoption Frenzy

**Author's Note:**

> This has been inspired in equal parts by a tumblr post I once saw and cannot find anymore, the horrible discord enabler's continuing raging about mandos adopting everything even vaguely child-shaped and my saltiness about how the Jedi seem to think that simply throwing a poncho over their usual robes equals a good disguise.
> 
> well, enjoy

Dith had been observing the _jetiise_ since their little group had entered.

There had been a lot of shuffling and covert handsigns from the other patrons initially, but since the adult jeti was travelling with two verd’ike, it was decided not to do anything. One elder from Clan Rook shortly debated the merit of adoption, but the general consensus was that that would be stealing and thus immoral. With a subtle shrug and a signed “the offer still stands” the elder had turned back to her drink. So, the jetiise were left alone, children had to eat after all and maybe someone here could take the ade aside for a second and nicely tell them that simply throwing ponchos over their regular outfits was not at all a viable disguise. Just what was it with the jetiise and their weird ponchos?

Personally, Dith didn’t know a lot about the jetiise (apart from combat-relevant information) but she was pretty sure she had heard that the adults travelling with young ones were usually very protective… So, best not to wake any sleeping mudhorns. Replacing the interior of the diner was pricey, and she wasn’t sure if they even _could_ sue the jetii organisation for damages…

As she was loading dishes onto her tray, she overheard some of the ongoing discussion between the baby jetiise and their ….buir? She wasn’t entirely sure on that though, but from what she heard and saw, jetiise with children should be treated like buire. At least that was, what she initially thought.

Listening to them now, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

“But- but Master Crirsum, I…”

“Padawan Izleze, you have voiced your concerns, but there is some seafood in one of the meals, that should suffice. If not, am sure you can eat some of the vegetables.”

“I mean I _can_ … but Master Crirsum I-“, the young voice tried again, only to be cut off by a sharp gesture.

Dith peeked over, inspecting them a little closer now. The adult had their back turned to her, but she could see the faces of the jet’ike. One of them, a blueish-green Gungan, sat a little hunched and fiddling nervously with a napkin, the other, a yellow-skinned Togruta currently looked down on the table, biting their lip and digging sharp nails into the chair.

Dith bristled, as did old Vhriin, who sat on the table just next to them. The eyes of the old, battle marked Twi’lek flitted over to the jetiise for a second and then back to his food, but from his stiffened posture she knew his attention was now on them. Not that she could fault him, those children seemed… skittish, in a way that rubbed her the wrong way. Tray in hand she hovered closer, wiping off some empty tables on the side. She watched as the adult jetii, seemingly a female Cerean, sharply put down the pad with the menu on it. “You are able to eat the seafood and the vegetables, Jib-Jib can’t eat red meat at all. I am sorry, but we will have to compromise here, there isn’t enough credits to buy both.”

The young Mandalorian furrowed her brow. The verd’ika was a Togruta, from what she knew from her clan members they sometimes got excruciating stomach cramps from eating white meat. Some Twi’leks had the same problem. Something was not right. Did that adult jetii not care for the wellbeing of the girl? From Vhriin’s body language she could see that the old man had the same suspicions.

Ka’ra, she’d better do something, otherwise this would escalate.

Just as she wanted to make her way over to their table, the gangly Gungan spoke up hesitantly. “Master, I- I am not that hungry anyways… Can’t we just order something with meat for ‘Shee and I can eat the side dish? She gets a stomach-ache from fish and…” “ _Padawan_.” The cerean jetii interrupted “My decision stands, moreover I know from Master Lp’tek that Padawan Izleze had medication for that problem. You on the other hand do not have any. We will order what I have decided upon, it is imperative that we all are as well-nourished as we can be, and you haven’t been able to eat your fill in the last three days. So now you have priority.”

Dith was speechless. That shabuir would knowingly have one of the children under her care eat something indigestible? Hells, a Mandalorian, they’d rather do without food for themselves than letting either one child hunger or the other suffer. But before she could do anything herself, Vhriin had jerkily stood up from his place, taken his plate with food and crossed the distance to the jetii’s table. He slammed town his half-eaten nerf steak in front of the frozen still Togruta. Maybe a little more forcefully than Dith would have appreciated, seeing as the children already were quite tense, but this was just his personality.

She sighed and shook her head a bit. Still the same grumpy and in-the-face demeanor as when he had taught them unarmed combat.

The old gundark was now talking the wide eyed child into trying the meat, while any protest of the Cerean was completely ignored. As the jetii then made attempts to reach for their ‘saber, the old lady from Clan Rook a few booths over cleared her throat and quite demonstratively placed her blaster on the edge of her table, raising one eyebrow challengingly. Slowly, the hand was placed back on the table.

Sighing, Dith refocused on wiping the table, letting Vhriin’s enthusiastic commentary on the steak wash over her. At some point she heard the sound of a chair being dragged over the floor, and upon looking, she saw that the old geezer had planted himself next to the awkward-looking Togruta. Dear Manda, with how things were progressing right now, she’d probably have to prevent a surprise adoption this evening.

Just as she wanted to head over too, to make sure no one got stabbed, she was called to one of the other tables. Since it seemed unlikely that there would be a fight breaking out any time soon, she headed over and took up the order. The order, unsurprisingly, was for two plates of food for the jetii children.

Smiling, she headed over to the kitchen.

The trip took a little longer than anticipated since she couldn’t resist telling Kef, the cook, about what was happening in the diner, explaining for whom the food was. Kef found the food would go on the house, since that would prevent fights from breaking out about who would be the "lucky" one to pay for the children's food. The two of them got a good laugh out of it, joking that Clan Priest would have two new members by the end of the day, if they left Vhriin unattended for too long.

“Badmouthing me, _Dishka_?”

Whipping around, she saw the old Twi’lek leaning against the doorframe.

Letting out a short laugh, she crossed her arms. “If you are here to get some food for the jet’ike, you’re too late. Someone was faster than you.” His face fell. “What? Who _dared_!?”

A snicker came from behind the stove where Kef stood, preparing two extra large servings, one a meat platter of various red meats, the other a clear soup with pieces of seaweed and fish. Vhriin grumbled. “Traitors, all of you.”

Dith laughed as well. “Oh. Come on, maybe they’ll let you pay for their dessert or something.” And she punched him on his shoulder pauldron. “This is for terrifying the children. Honestly, couldn’t you have chosen a more subtle approach?”

He shrugged, unperturbed. Then a sly grin creeped across his face, exposing his sharp teeth “She ate it all though. The Togruta girl.”

Groaning, Dith dragged a hand down her face, while Kef’s loud laughter filled the kitchen. “You are _NOT_ adopting any jetii children. I forbid it. We have enough drama as it is, no need to provoke those glow-stick-wielding wizards.” Vhriin’s single lek twitched and he made an indignant face. “I think that’s too late already.” He murmured darkly “Pec has also called dibs on the jet’ike, soo…” Shrugging his shoulders at Dith’s blank stare, he explained “You know Mahsima Pec, old woman, face tattoos, is from Clan Rook. She’s called dibs on the boy, but if I wont return soon the old hag will probably snatch both.”

Dith was speechless. Those _damned_ old people! Nothing but trouble.

Now it was the Twi’lek’s turn to laugh. “Oh, come on Dishka, don’t look like that. That Cerean woman shouldn’t have a child under her care, let alone two of them.”

“I don’t like it any more than you do. But we _cannot_ have the jetiise launch a rescue mission because you stubborn old people snatched their children. I don’t wa-“ In that moment she was interrupted by the clanging of a soup ladle against a pot.

“Make the specifics of their maybe-adoption out AFTER those poor things have gotten their food.” Kef said, shoving a tray with the two giant plates into Dith’s arms. And with a wink they added: “And tell them they can order as much as they like for seconds, it’s on the house.” Vhriin made an outraged noise, being once again prevented from showing his goodwill to the children. Kef shot him a cocky grin. The resulting threats of grievous bodily harm were almost out of her earshot, as Dith quickly made her way to the people the meals were meant for.

Wide eyed, the children stared at her as she set down the plates in front of them. The Cerean looked as if she wanted to protest again, but faltered under the judgemental glare of the Rook Clan elder. “Enjoy.” She said, smiling. “Order as much food as you want, our cook feels very generous today, it’s all on the house.” Both of the young ones made surprised noises.

Enthusiastically, they started to dig in, only to freeze after the first bite or so and look over guiltily to the Cerean, who sat very stiffly in her chair.

With narrowing eyes, Dith glanced over to her as well. “Do not worry children, I am sure your guardian has nothing to say against you filling your stomachs, right?” The mood in the whole diner was rather tense, the children started to twitchy again. Lips pressed together, the adult jetii shot her a glare, but then slowly inclined her head.

Dith clapped her hands together. “See? So dig in. And call me if you want to order more.”

The two jet’ike shuffled a bit, exchanged some glances and, if Dith wasn’t completely mistaken, there was some shin-kicking under the table. Then the Togruta straightened, and very politely said “Thank you, Miss.” Nodding, the boy also muttered a shy “Thank you, Miss” while fidgeting a little with his spoon. She let out a huff. “Don’t mention it, no child should hunger or have to eat something indigestible to them.” And she shot another glare towards the Cerean.

“Oh, you heard that…” the girl muttered, while her cheeks and lekku tips took on a slightly more orangish tone.

Okay, Dith had to admit it was adorable.

And for a _moment_ she almost wanted to keep them too, but the knowing grin plastered over the Rook Clan elder’s face brought her back to reality.

Staring the old woman straight into the eyes, she sharply signalled her not to get her hopes up about any adoptions happening this evening. The only reaction she got was a raised eyebrow and a covertly signed “Maybe”.

Well, not covert enough it seemed, as the gungan boy mustered them suspiciously.

Dith held his gaze. It was a silent staring-contest, that she won after a few moments, as he seemed to be naturally more on the shy side. She watched as he turned back to his food.

Letting out a huff of air, she turned away from the table, going back to her usual business, crossing paths with Vhriin, wo re-emerged from the kitchen carrying some additional plates and looking rather proud of himself. As soon as he sat back to the table he started recommending food and a few moments later the Rook woman joined in, sharing recipes and cooking tricks. When the first bout of laughter from one of the jet’ike sounded through the diner, there was some shuffling on the other tables.

Envious gazes flew to the two elders who had snatched the best places to interact with them.

Offhandedly she signed the few other Mandalorians in the diner to back off. No adoptions today.


End file.
